This is a student blog post submitted by Melanie Lofgren, C’18. Melanie is a psychology major, with a biblical and theological studies minor. She spent her spring break in Italy with a group of 12 students and two professors. On the trip, students considered the continuity between the life of the earliest Christians in their cities and present-day Christians in the city of Chicago.

Today I’ll share about something I’m not very knowledgeable about, and yet find incredibly interesting and thought-provoking.

Rome and art.

I’ll start at the Vatican. We went to the Vatican museum on Tuesday and spent the day in our groups viewing, listening, and reading. Everything was simply beautiful. The artworks expressed feelings, depicted moments or a series of moments in time, or the feeling of multiple emotions, history, and so much more!

I want to focus on the Sistine Chapel. No pictures were allowed, as I was sternly told by a clearly aggravated Italian man shaking his hand at me. So, sorry, I don’t have any photos. The effort and thoroughness Michelangelo used to paint the chapel are insane to think about, not mention painful with the method he had to use. He depicts the final judgment, stories of Moses, moments in Jesus’s life, prophets, the book of Genesis, the apostles, and more. The amount of Christian history and significance in that room is incredible. Couple that with the one who painted it, and where . . . I was standing in one of the most significant places for Christians, and I’m Protestant.

As I stood in front of piece after piece in different museums, I felt something like what I like to believe the artists were feeling. It’s all subjective and can be interpreted differently, and yet each piece is timeless and has a story. Most Roman art we saw conveyed a historical event or religious belief.

Take the painting by Pietro Aquila, for instance. Located in the Room of Triumphs in
the Capitoline Museum, the battle scene depicts the victory of Alexander over Darius (ca. 1650–92). I am initially frightened because I am extremely uncomfortable, afraid, and disapproving of the violence. However, as I take a closer look I see a deeper message. This is not simply a battle between Alexander the Great and the ultimate defeat of Darius, but it elevates Alexander to a higher level than previously. The sky is clear and bright revealing that this is a good scene. The bird flying overhead could be a scavenger waiting for a meal, a symbol for the inevitability of death. There are faces full of terror and ones of absolute confidence and power.

Before I go, I want to share my favorite painting with you; it’s the fresco of the riot between Pompeiians and Nucerians, 59 A.D., Pompei, Volume IV, plate XXXII by Fausto and Felice Niccolini. This is an illustration of a riot that occurred outside of the amphitheater in Pompeii in 59 CE, speculated to have been between organizations from different towns. It’s distinctive because the artist decided to paint this event rather than a gladiatorial fight, which was the most common use of the amphitheater. They’re also what you’d assume people would want to remember in a painting. It may be that the artist was connected to the riot somehow. The piece takes a bird’s eye perspective which removes the artist from the scene, whether that be to distance themselves to not be triggered by the event or because they were not there, I cannot say. It also is very spread out; each brawl and element are separated from each other, this is very different from the other art we saw during this time and that made it even more interesting. It is just so cool!

This is a student blog post submitted by Melanie Lofgren, C’18. Melanie is a psychology major, with a biblical and theological studies minor. She spent her spring break in Italy with a group of 12 students and two professors. On the trip, students considered the continuity between the life of the earliest Christians in their cities and present-day Christians in the city of Chicago.

Over my spring break, I traveled with a group of 11 other students and two professors, all of us ranging in academic and professional disciplines . . . and in prior knowledge of Rome and Christian history. Despite being a Junior and a BTS minor, I actually haven’t taken many Bible or theology classes. I also never learned much of Roman history in junior high or high school, so this trip was going to be a whole new world and wealth of knowledge for me. Before the trip we read some books to brush up, or in my case learn about Christian and Roman history (it was a lot of information that did not care to remain in my brain during the trip).

As soon as we arrived, we were herded to our first three sights of the trip: The Pantheon, the Church of the Gesu, and the Ara Pacis. It’s important to note “herding” is a very appropriate term. We walked everywhere, led (or shall I say shepherded) by our two professors; we probably looked like a herd of unusual American tourists, and this is exactly what we were.

Stepping outside of your comfort zone is one of the greatest gifts God has given us and that we can give to God.

Professors Willitts and Veeneman know how to travel. If there’s one thing I took away, it was how to be a traveler. We had free audio guides (courtesy of Rick Steve), and guide books that had enough information to spark conversation while not overwhelming us. I loved all the walking, and I chose to walk when given the option, even going on a mini “pilgrimage.” Walking is a great way to see the city. Walking through Rome made me take in more of the city, see the neighborhoods and their aesthetics change, experience the interactions between people, not look like a tourist (a huge plus for me), get great exercise (and not feel guilty about all the pizza and pasta I consumed!), and it helped me navigate and understand the city. Although taking a bus everywhere may have been less tiring, I wouldn’t have been able to grasp the immensity, extravagance, and culture nearly as well.

Let’s get back to what we did though. Every day we saw a few different places of significance to the Christian faith, to the Roman Empire, to western theology, and any combination of these. In this blog series, I’ll talk about the places that I found to be the most intriguing, the knowledge and relationships I gained, and the topics that still lurk in my mind all while relating it to my life back in Chicago.

Before I wrap up this first post, I want to encourage anyone reading this to a) continue to read the rest of my series, b) study abroad or travel to other countries, and c) go on this trip! Traveling and experiencing a new culture is daunting and nerve-wracking. It is a humbling experience if you let it be (please let it!), and although the cons may seem to outweigh the pros in foresight, you will never regret the experience in hindsight, no matter how unplanned, disorganized, chaotic, and scary it may turn it out be. You still learn things years afterward, and stepping outside of your comfort zone is one of the greatest gifts God has given us and that we can give to God.

Interested in traveling with BTS next spring break?

ROME and POMPEII SPRING BREAK 2018 TOUR INFO MEETING